Garnet Biotherapeutics has raised funding to continue to develop its cell-based therapy platform that could have applications in scar care, burn treatment, treatment of auto-immune disorders such as psoriasis and in other conditions where inflammation plays an important role in disease pathology. The company received funding from SCP Vitalife Partners II, LP to proceed with the phase II clinical trials of its proprietary human adult bone marrow-derived cells, as well as manufacturing and development.

The first in a series of cell products will be called GBT 009, and it will be capable of reducing inflammation and promoting healing. In addition, the company has developed proprietary scalable cell manufacturing technology that may solve the challenge of commercial manufacturing scale-up of patient doses from a single donor source.

Garnet cell-product GBT 009, when used topically on the skin or administered internally, releases anti-inflammatory and pro-healing factors that accelerate healing and reduce scarring. The company is currently targeting dermatology applications, with plans to expand into other reconstructive and cosmetic procedures as well as looking at ways to advance the technology for use in orthopedic and cardiovascular surgical procedures, burn treatment, chronic wound healing and auto-immune disorders.

Safeguard Scientifics Inc. and Alliance Technology Ventures are also participated in the financing. According to Garnet, the financing will allow it to develop a clinical strategy for the technology. The company maintains that it have solved the issue of scale-up and will be able to manufacture the technology efficiently and cost-effectively on a larger scale.